Geek Squad trip lands child porn “trafficker” in slammer for 10 years

A businessman on a trip to Arkansas took his laptop to a local Best Buy for …

It's been a rough week for PC users who get their hard drives serviced at Best Buy. First, the RIAA trained its legal guns on a young woman who had Best Buy swap out the hard drive in her computer, a move they believed was designed to wipe evidence of P2P infringement. Now, a man in Arkansas has just been sentenced to 135 months in jail and a $10,000 fine after a Best Buy tech found child porn on the man's hard drive.

Michael Fortino, an "author, speaker, and media personality," found himself in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on a business trip, and he took his laptop to a local Best Buy for repair. A Geek Squad tech there found child porn pics on the PC and contacted the police, who obtained a search warrant and examined the PC.

The results showed 130 child porn images along with "a commercial video clip of child pornography, and two video clips of minor females changing into swim suits that appeared to have been taken by a hidden video camera," according the US Attorney's eventual complaint.

Because Fortino traveled across state lines with his laptop, he was accused of interstate trafficking in child porn and faced federal charges. Fortino pleaded guilty earlier this year, and his sentence was handed down yesterday.

Apart from a decade in jail and the fine, Fortino's PC and video camera were confiscated "and will be disposed of according to law."